The Killing (Seasons 1-3)

Holder does clean up nicely. Then again, so does Linden. Mirielle Enos is a phenomenal actress.

It is a superbly acted show, ruaidhri, but it's not for the attention span impaired; that's for sure. You have to watch and think and conjecture about this, that, and the other thing. Which is why I love it, though. I sure hope Netflix will produce a season four if AMC doesn't pick it up.

I recall reading that many people didn't like the show because it was "slow." But I don't find it slow at all. I find it cerebral and quite masterful at characterization. There's something in every episode that makes you reconsider where you thought the story was going. And in retrospect, all the information you need to get the right hunch to solve the mystery is there, but they don't spell it out for you. I love that this show makes the viewer think, and invest themselves in the characters.

I watched the first two episodes of season three last night--really liked them!! I am definitely into the street kids storyline. I care a little less about the guy on death row, but I'm sure as time goes by and we learn more about his story, he'll become more interesting. It's great to see Linden and Holder working together again! And to see Holder in a tank top. I love the suit on him--he looks really dignified and sexy in it.

And Linden is just awesome. She has this guarded smile that just says so much. I feel bad that her son chose to live with his dad, but story-wise, it probably frees the writers up from having to account for him in every episode (though the ep when he went missing and Linden and Holder looked for him was one of my favs).

Uh-oh! Watched two more. Still really loving this season. Still don't care about the dude on death row. Still think Holder is fine in his suit--and bummed from the preview that it looks like the hoodie is coming back. WTF??

Also, is it just me or are they kind of teasing a Linden/Holder romance? They're both noticing/commenting on each other's S.O.'s... which could just be a friend thing, but this is TV so I wonder. I loved the scene where Linden and Holder's partner (can't remember his name) are fighting over Holder's attention and taking swipes at each other.

These street kids break my heart. Two of them have already been raped and one is missing--presumed dead? So, so, so sad. I hope they're at least able to get Goldie, even if I'm guessing the P.O. officer will get away with what he did to Twitch. I really want to see Goldie go down for what he did to Bullet.

Just watched two more--eps 5 and 6 I guess. Ugh, the Seward storyline still annoys me. It's getting more relevant now that it looks like his kid may have witnessed the murder and he may actually be guilty, but every time they cut to the prison my eyes glaze over.

Best line in ep 6 (I think) goes to Reddick, speaking to Linden and Holder: "Detective Linden. Mrs. Linden." OK, pretty convinced now that they are teasing romance, especially since Linden crashed Holder's sort-of date on Valentine's Day. I did like that it didn't register with either Linden or Holder that it was Valentine's Day. They really are alike in a lot of ways.

I love Bullet a lot. Her relationship with Holder is really interesting--I like how they've kind of bonded.

Callie's mom is marginally more sympathetic now that actually seems to care that her daughter is missing.

Okay, that was seriously fucking disturbing. I hope I never see an ending like that again. God DAMN. I just got through watching by my usual "other means" since I don't have cable.

Holy moly mother of Mary, that shit was disturbing. It's probably more truthful than any of us know....which is why it's disturbing. Food for thought. Now I can't sleep.

Glad to see Holder lobbing away the beer, hopefully for good. In the midst of all that pathos, he and Linden's connection shone through. Platonic it is, but it's love. It's friendship of the highest order. Genuine love of one human being for another, uncomplicated by sex and games. Kirk and Spock. Mulder and Scully (though I guess they did the deed) . Sam and Dean. All the great ones. Linden and Holder are there. Gods, Mirielle Enos and Joel Kinnamon are superb actors.

Christ, was Mr. Tough prison guard a cowardly dick when the chips were down or what?

Powerful, powerful episode. Maybe the most gut wrenching of the entire series. Saarsgard and Enos deserve Emmy consideration for that episode alone. If this one doesn't make the finale anticlimactic, then Veena Sud is some kind of wizard. Absolutely great.

At least they're calling it a "season" finale, so it hasn't been cancelled yet.

IDK, I thought Linden yelling about the trees was a bit silly and over the top.

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Isn't that thought what got him to turn and look out and see his son right before the end?

All the talk about how Dale Cooper does some transformative shit on TWIN PEAKS in guiding Leland Palmer at the time of his death is NOTHING compared to the stuff with her tonight - and that's coming from a lifelong TP fan. This character is really really something -- as is her partner.

That shot of her starting to smile when she's in the car and her partner is outside saying he is never gonna try to kiss her again was wonderful beyond belief. God I love the photography on this show!

Damn if Bullet's death wasn't heartbreaking. Awful, just awful. Poor Holder--he really fell apart. He's going to be carrying around the guilt of not answering her calls for quite a while.

Maybe it was just me but I never really suspected Pastor Mike. Though, for an innocent guy, he sure did take the wrong approach to trying to protest his innocence. Did he really think kidnapping a cop was a better route than going into the station and telling them what happened in Tempe?

Callie is still missing. I kind of suspect Joe's mom--I wonder if she killed the girls with him. She was super shady.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think about Seward. His prison "buddy" who has been trying to talk him into committing suicide is super scary, though. I still could have done without the prison guard drama--do not care at all--and most of the prison scenes. The creepy suicide whisperer was the first interesting thing in that prison IMO. The rest of it--surly guards, freaked out death row inmates, etc.--is all things we've seen before.

I'm going to watch the next ep soon so that I'll finally be caught up!

Ok, I'm caught up. MAN. That episode was gut-wrenching. The prison storyline was my least favorite, but ack, he didn't do it and no one should have to go that way. I don't understand why the evidence wasn't enough to get a stay of execution. Heartbreaking when he didn't get to see his kid (except through the window) at the end.

At the same time, he delayed seeing the kid all day--until it was too late. And he picked the antiquated means of execution. And while innocent of the murder, he wasn't a good man by any means (the references to beating his wife, etc.). I like how this show does shades of gray. You still felt awful for him in spite of all of that.

I can't wait for the finale this weekend. I really hope they find Callie alive. After all the sadness so far this season, they really need that win.

So, the finale. Wow. I have mixed feelings, though the ending was incredibly powerful.

OK, the bad. Linden and Skinner hooking up? Unearned. I wish, especially given the twist, that we'd seen more of Skinner throughout the season. I totally figured out it was him as soon as they said was a cop, and I wish it had had more of an impact other than, "Whoa, that's going to kill Linden because they just hooked up 20 minutes ago." Yeah, I know they had history, but other than the one forehead touch in an episode (which was a nice moment), I didn't feel like their relationship was developed in the way it should have been to give the ending a huge emotional punch. I was never like, "NO WAY, it can't be Skinner! because I barely knew him.

Also, making Linden dumb to service the plot pissed me off. She should have realized Holder being dragged away by IA right after she told Skinner about her suspicions was fishy! She should not have gotten in the car with him three (or was it two) episodes after her ordeal with Pastor Mike. She should have figured out long before it got dark that Skinner wouldn't have had time to drive Adrian out to the lake house and come back. I can buy some of it was shock, but all of it? Come on. She's smarter than that.

Callie's disappearance more or less being resolved in dialogue felt like a bit of a let down after all the build up. I guess it's meant to illustrate that a lot of these girls just disappear and their families never get any closure, but given that it was a big driving storyline of the season it might have been nice to have more in the way of wrap up.

ETA: Oh, and the ring. I don't think serial killers give their trophies to their family members. Just saying.

All of that being said, there was a lot in the finale that I liked, and I thought the final moments were excellent. I loved the banter between Holder and Linden--they are cemented as one of my favorite duos now. It cracks me up when Holder teases her, and she grudgingly puts up with it. I also love that Holder reconciled with his girlfriend (who I really like) and that he didn't seem to get that one fight doesn't end a relationship (at least not usually). It was sad and sweet and I love how she handled it.

I loved Linden's brief moments of happiness. Her awkward smile is just so endearing. It's almost as if she doesn't quite know how to express happiness and it ends up coming out a bit odd. I love that.

I know I put it in my bad column, but Callie meaning so little to Skinner that he didn't even remember her was heartbreaking, and rang true. Man, I wonder how many girls he killed. Way more than the 21 they found. Also, while the serial killer explaining himself is an old cliche, it didn't just feel like rout dialogue here. I believed it, horrific as it was. I bought it.

And the ending. That ending. I knew about a second before she pulled the trigger that she was going to do it. Holder's plaintive "No, no, no" afterwards was heartbreaking. What happens next? I assume he'll cover for her, because I can't see him not. But I think it's going to eat away at both of them.

No, she shouldn't have gotten in the car with him, but she wanted to find Adrian because she felt responsible, and he dangled that possibility in front of her. I don't think of her as dumb but more as being blinded by her guilt and frenzied emotions. Linden didn't want another death on her conscience.

You do crazy things when guilt is messing with your head. Linden's unstable emotionally. I bought it that she'd get in. She got totally immersed in the Seward case back in '09 and always had doubts about them getting the right man. She was involved with Skinner; he said "my wife and kids" and she went off the deep end for reasons including all of the above.

It was dumb to get in the car, but it was earned because of Linden's emotional state. She kept saying, "I should have seen" but she didn't because she liked Skinner. She was so obsessed about not fucking up again with Adrian that she didn't even pick up on Holder in IA being because of Skinner. Her mind was in a frenzy. All the girls are dead and Seward is dead. She saw him drop and suffocate and it majorly fucked her up. I liked it. I really did. Also, some serial rapists (many of whom are married) have been known to give some jewelry from the victims to their wives. They're sick puppies.

I rather like that they didn't find Callie. That's the way it happens too many times. Also, you aren't kidding that there needs to be another season. Holy SHIT. Oh, don't Linden and Holder have a bond now. You know he'll cover for her and there will be hell to pay emotionally. Devilish and brilliant by the writers, though, to build up that bond this way. Linden's instincts are brilliant, but she's really not fit emotionally to be a detective. She gets too involved and it messes her up. If I were her superior and I knew the facts, she'd be gone.

But it would make brilliant, riveting story with Enos and Kinnamon's chemistry, no? They'd have to pick up right where they left off, that's for sure. Oh, there must be more.

One thing they did also clear up which bugged me for a while now, was how did Adrian know about the bodies in the pond when he was drawing all those trees which had originally led Linden to discover the bodies. I always wondered where him watching his mother being killed from the closet lead to him drawing the trees by the pond. So they did tidy that up with the treehouse finally

Finally saw the finale over the weekend. The penultimate episode was so good that it made this one seem a bit anti climactic, but I still liked it a lot.

Yeah, the banter between Linden and Holder is great. She has gone from responding to him with blank looks and evil stares, to actually smiling. Their relation has been painstakingly built over 3 seasons and is entering it's prime. While teasing Sarah about her affair with Skinner, Holder actually called Linden "1-900". That cracked me up. Enos and Kinnaman have created two unique, multi-dimensional characters. Hope one or both get recognized by Emmy voters.

Count me among those who think that Linden once again got into a car with a bad guy because her main concern was not her own safety, but seeing to it that no harm came to Adrian. I think if that kid had been killed it would have broken her.

Callie's mom, who gained my sympathy over the last few episodes, just wrecked me when she stood on the bridge and closed her eyes and counted. That made me realize just what Callie meant to her.

Holder's response to Linden's kill shot on Skinner was partially based on the knowledge that he would not only live with the depressing thought that his partner committed murder, but also because he would cover for her, which he most surely will do. Boy, did Skinner deserve that bullett. Took Linden all the way out there just so he could goad her into doing what he was too much of a coward to do -- yet he somehow managed to muster the "courage" to kill children. Skumbag.

I'de love to see this show return, but I'm also asking; how much more can these two characters take?